• While budgeting for leasing a property it becomes necessary to understand various ways a lease transactions are structured. There are broadly three different structures for a lease transaction
• Monthly Rentals: In such transaction a lessee needs to pay the rentals every month. Depending on the agreed terms the rent may be paid either in advance or and the end of respective month.
• Deposit and Rentals: In this type lessee need to pay certain amount to the lessor as security deposit in addition to the monthly rent that he has to pay. The amount of deposit is generally calculated as multiples of rentals. In most of the cases the deposit amounts to 6 to 12 months rent. However the deposit amount would depend on the city and the location where the apartment is situated. As and when the lessee vacates the flat the deposit is refunded by the lessor.
• Advance Rentals: The lessee pays rent for the entire term upfront.
• The obvious question now would be: how does one get to know the prevailing rates of properties at different locations. It is possible to get a rough estimate of the rates prevailing through weeklies like the Accommodation times, other real estate journals.
• The rentals are usually quoted per sq. ft per month. One needs to first ascertain the area of the flat to be leased.

While locating a commercial premises one would require to consider various issues like location of the premises in terms of its proximity to the Central Business District and availability of other significant infrastructure facilities like access roads, power, water supply, bus/train stations, etc.) to efficiently support that sectorial population.

Real Estate Agents could also be an alternative for identifying a property. However, caution needs to be exercised when it comes to selecting an agent.

Rental value of the flat is generally a function of capital value of the flat. Generally a lessor expects returns of around 6% to 10% of the capital value of the flat. Thus to ascertain the rental value of flat one needs to find out the market rate in the locality.

Some of these factors that would affect the valuation of a property are mentioned below

• Age of the building – As a normal market norm, new buildings would fetch higher rental values in comparison to older properties at a given location.
• Upkeep & maintenance of building – The upkeep and maintenance of the building would determine the marketability and the prevailing market value of the premises in which the building is situated. Needless to say, better and fairly well maintained buildings would fetch a better rent.
• Upkeep and condition of the premises – The condition and the internal maintenance of the flat would again play an important role in determining the rentals for the property.
• Layout of premises – The layout of the premises in terms of optimum space utilisation in an efficient manner help the premises score points. The number of attached toilets, availability of servant's room and toilet, vehicle parking spaces available with the flats would also play an important role in determining the rental value of the premises.

• The lessee needs to ensure that lessor has title of the property and also has obtained necessary permissions to lease the flat. Following documents can help lessee in that regard.
• Society share certificate or equivalent – Lessee should verify the society share certificate in order to ensure that the lessor has the title to the property. This becomes necessary as in most of the transactions the lessee is expected to pay security deposit to the lessor.
• Permission to lease from the society: The lessor needs to take permission from the society or the governing authority of the building. Also the lessee has to understand the terms and conditions under which such permission is granted.

Condition of the flat: It would be important to inspect the flat especially for the leakage's in the flat if any. Usually in case there is any leakage he lessee should ensure that it is rectified or the permission for the same is obtained by the lessor. This would be necessary because it may be difficult to the lessee to obtain such permissions from the society.

Electrification of the flat: Electrification is another important aspect in the flat that need to be checked. In case any improvements are required, it should be listed and immediately attended to. In case new circuit board is to be installed the necessary permissions need to be obtained.

• Taking possession of the flat would involve ensuring the following:
• Inspect the flat thoroughly before taking possession
• Take a letter from the seller confirming that the seller is handing over vacant and peaceful possession of the flat
• Normally in lease transactions the lessor will keep one set of keys and handover the second set to the lessee
• In case the flat is furnished inspect and ensure good condition of the furnishings.